It seemed to me from the start that he was merely grandstanding with no intention of following through with it, because the current M.O. among conservative evangelicals is to make whatever outlandish claim will earn them a viral news story and then be forgotten before anyone realizes they never made good on their threats. Also, there was a retired pastor
who set himself on fire for a cause he believed in, but it got next to no nationwide attention since he did it for racial equality.